Slipjoints... why are they popular in USA but not Europe?

On the lack of American knives overseas, as Alfaholic pointed out, how much of this is a result of distribution and marketing decisions?

many companies do not choose to enter the international market, or have done so only recently.

A couple of examples: in this country you can buy a Buck or Gerber anywhere, but in Europe these are never found. On the other hand, you can get SAKs there everywhere.

In Italy, Fox is a leading knife maker. They only set up an operation in the US last year; their website is months old.
 
[QUOTE thejamppa= In scandinavia you have puukko which does almost everything you need to do, so slipjoints never really rooted here or any folder culture. I still enjoy slipjoints myself very much. ]


Man, how I envy the people of Scandinavia! A perfect solution to the knife problem, just carry a small sheath knife. No problem with opening, no lock or spring to fail, no crevasses to clean pocket lint and junk out of, and easy to clean after a messy job. Over here, a sheath knife gets you a hairy eyeball unless you're actually out hunting or fishing.

Even though I love my peanuts, if it was acceptable where I live, I could go the rest of my life with a Brussleto Baldor on my hip and love it.

Carl.
 
that friction is awesome! incredibile! classic french style, seen many in that blade design, typical for france
 
Guy Vanderveken said:
That is one beautiful friction folder, congrats, Big Dave could you tell me more about it.

How do you find the ergonomics.

It is exquisite

GREAT THREAD- Very intrigued to see where this goes
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Hi Guy,

The ergonomics are excellent. Ergonomics are very important to me. I can't say enough good things about the knife or David Lespect. He's just a great knife maker... Everything is rounded, inside the liners too... It has a cool clocking mechanism so it is locked when open.

Lespect3.jpgIMG_0198.jpgIMG_0202.jpg
 
Well, I think that slippies are in Europe very popular. But I think, they aren´t named like this. There´s the Mercator, the Douk Douk, the Lagouile, Böker Sportmesser and so on and on. Many here carry such knives or keep them in the office at there desk or for foodpreparing in their work-cars.

Here are the america patterns a little bit difficult to get, but they are available. So there are guys that like theese knives, because they wouldn´t be sold when no one would like to buy them.

Kind regards
Andi
 
I don't really think that money has ever been the reason for the single blade thing in Europe...knife culture here, at least in some places, was born centuries ago, and the awful post WWII depression had probably little to do with knives. Still, I'm clueless on the reason why (as a general fact) slipjoints have one blade on this side of the Atlantic, and more than one blade on the other side.
I would love to see more American traditionals sold here too. Instead, I have to face the same problem any European knife user has: a Case (or Buck, or whatever other American factory knife) is always hard to find and insanely expensive here (if compared to the US price). On the other hand, any American can buy European production knives easily in the US and for the same price (sometimes even cheaper). Sad but true.
Fausto
:cool:
 
quattromori said:
I don't really think that money has ever been the reason for the single blade thing in Europe...knife culture here, at least in some places, was born centuries ago, and the awful post WWII depression had probably little to do with knives. Still, I'm clueless on the reason why (as a general fact) slipjoints have one blade on this side of the Atlantic, and more than one blade on the other side.
I would love to see more American traditionals sold here too. Instead, I have to face the same problem any European knife user has: a Case (or Buck, or whatever other American factory knife) is always hard to find and insanely expensive here (if compared to the US price). On the other hand, any American can buy European production knives easily in the US and for the same price (sometimes even cheaper). Sad but true.
Fausto
:cool:
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Truer words are never spoken.
 
Hi fausto!

You´re right with your opinion. And I think, it´s a pitty... :(

Kind (sad) regards
Andi
 
I'm wondering if the knife culture of US vs Europe doesn't mirror the gun culture. In the US guns and knives are commonly associated as tools of survival, while in Europe they might be more commonly associated as tools of war. While Europe was urbanized, the US was still being explored and settled. Carrying a large blade in the American wilderness during Manifest Destiny is one thing, carrying one down the streets of London in the Victorian era is another. In America you'd have a pistol on your hip and a rifle slung on your back. In Europe you probably didn't have a gun, or maybe you had a concealed pocket gun if you were wealthy. America was untamed, Europe was "civilized".

I would suspect in another 100 years or so, knife carrying in the US will more resemble Europe today than it does America today. Assuming the Zombie Apocalypse doesn't come first, in which case we're far better prepared on this side of the pond.
 
I think u are absolutely right on the gun culture. A bg part of the US was "conquered" (or explored, or any other word u want to use) n relatively recent times, where firearms were already available. Not so much in Europe. Firearms here (apart from hunting areas) are usually associated with war. Even if many people here do have a gun and the license to carry it, u won't see holsters around like u can see in some parts of the US.
But, personally, I don't think it's the same thing for knives. Actually, I think that, for many Europeans here on BF, the association between knives and guns is hard to understand. I've read hundreds of posts considering the two things as more or less the same thing. To me, they're totally different matters, altho I may understand that things in the US might be seen that way.
Slipjoints here were born for one purpose: a portable cutting tool for people who spent their days out of their place. No SD or weapon thing attached (of course, anyone can use a knife as a weapon, but the same is for a screwdriver or hammer or baseball bat). And I think it's exactly the same in the US.
Lately, there has been a "new wave" of modern folders, and probably a new wave of users with a different attitude.
I think slipjoints and traditionals still attract those users who are more linked to the pristine philosophy of carrying a knife...but that's just my guess.
I don't know if I prefer actual knife carry in the US or in Europe. What I know is that there's a small percentage of knife users that are causing big damage to the image of a pocket knife, therefore affecting every other knife users. Look at how strict the laws in some countries have become.
As for the Zombie Apocalypse...I'm confident we won't see any of it...otherwise, we would be in big trouble.
Fausto
:cool:
 
The Sheffield cutlery industry hardly made any locking knives. Same could be said for Solingen. A large proportion of the knives that made America were slipjoints from Sheffield and Solingen

I don't get where the idea that slippies aren't popular in Europe
 
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